Editing Joseph of Arimathea (section)

===Britain===
{{See also|Early centers of Christianity#Roman Britain}}
[[File:2nd state - c1809.jpg|thumb|180px|[[William Blake]]'s Illustration ''Joseph of Arimathea Among the Rocks of Albion'' in its second state after Blake's 1773 original, engraved circa 1809]]
Many legends about the arrival of Christianity in Britain abounded during the Middle Ages. Early writers do not connect Joseph to this activity, however. [[Tertullian]] wrote in ''Adversus Judaeos'' that Britain had already received and accepted the Gospel in his lifetime, writing, "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons—inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/anf03-19.htm#P2021_691723|title=Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III : An Answer to the Jews.|website=www.tertullian.org}}</ref>

Tertullian does not say how the Gospel came to Britain before AD 222. However, [[Eusebius|Eusebius of Caesaria]], one of the earliest and most comprehensive of church historians, wrote of Christ's disciples in ''Demonstratio Evangelica,'' saying that "some have crossed the Ocean and reached the Isles of Britain."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_de_05_book3.htm|title=Eusebius of Caesarea: Demonstratio Evangelica. Tr. W.J. Ferrar (1920) -- Book 3|website=www.tertullian.org}}</ref> [[Hilary of Poitiers]] also wrote that the Apostles had built churches and that the Gospel had passed into Britain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf209.toc.html|title=NPNF2-09. Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus - Christian Classics Ethereal Library|website=www.ccel.org}}</ref> The writings of Pseudo-Hippolytus include a list of the seventy disciples whom Jesus sent forth in Luke 10, one of which is [[Aristobulus of Britannia|Aristobulus]] of Romans 16:10, called "bishop of Britain".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0524.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: On the Apostles and Disciples (Pseudo-Hippolytus)|work=newadvent.org}}</ref>

In none of these earliest references to Christianity's arrival in Britain is Joseph of Arimathea mentioned. [[William of Malmesbury]]'s {{lang|la|De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae}} ('On the Antiquity of the [[Glastonbury Abbey|Church of Glastonbury]]', circa 1125) has not survived in its original edition, and the stories involving Joseph of Arimathea are contained in subsequent editions that abound in interpolations placed by the Glastonbury monks "in order to increase the Abbey's prestige&nbsp;– and thus its pilgrim trade and prosperity" <ref>[[Antonia Gransden]], ''Historical Writing in England II, c. 1307 to the Present'', page 399. Routledge, 1996; Reprinted 2000. {{ISBN|0-415-15125-2}}. Antonia Grandsen also cited [[William Wells Newell]], "William of Malmesbury on the Antiquity of Glastonbury" in ''Publications of the Modern Language Association of America'', xviii (1903), pages 459–512; A. Gransden, "The Growth of the Glastonbury Traditions and Legends in the Twelfth Century" in ''Journal of Ecclesiastical History'', xxvii (1976), page 342</ref> In his {{lang|la|Gesta Regum Anglorum}} (''History of The Kings of England'', finished in 1125), William of Malmesbury wrote that Glastonbury Abbey was built by preachers sent by [[Pope Eleuterus]] to Britain, however also adding: "Moreover there are documents of no small credit, which have been discovered in certain places to the following effect: 'No other hands than those of the disciples of Christ erected the church of Glastonbury'", but here William did not explicitly link Glastonbury with Joseph of Arimathea, but instead emphasizes the possible role of [[Philip the Apostle]]: "if Philip, the Apostle, preached to the Gauls, as Freculphus relates in the fourth chapter of his second book, it may be believed that he also planted the word on this side of the channel also.".<ref>William of Malmesbury, ''William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the Earliest Period To The Reign of King Stephen'', page 22 (notes and illustrations by J. A. Giles, London: Bell & Daldy, 1866)</ref> The first appearance of Joseph in the Glastonbury records can be pinpointed with surprising accuracy to 1247, when the story of his voyage was added as a margin-note to Malmesbury's chronicle.<ref>Stout, Adam (2020) ''Glastonbury Holy Thorn: Story of a Legend'' Green & Pleasant Publishing, p. 14   {{ISBN| 978-1-9162686-1-6}}</ref>
[[File:Pieter Coeck van Aelst - Joseph of Arimathaea (left wing).jpg|thumb|160px|''Joseph of Arimathaea'' by [[Pieter Coecke van Aelst]], ca. 1535]]

In 1989, folklore scholar A. W. Smith critically examined the accretion of legends around Joseph of Arimathea. Often associated with [[William Blake]]'s poem "[[And did those feet in ancient time]]" and its musical setting, widely known as the hymn "Jerusalem", the legend is commonly held as "an almost secret yet passionately held article of faith among certain otherwise quite orthodox Christians" and Smith concluded "that there was little reason to believe that an oral tradition concerning a visit made by Jesus to Britain existed before the early part of the twentieth century".<ref>Smith, "'And Did Those Feet...?': The 'Legend' of Christ's Visit to Britain" ''Folklore'' '''100'''.1 (1989), pp. 63–83.</ref> [[Sabine Baring-Gould]] recounted a Cornish story how "Joseph of Arimathea came in a boat to [[Cornwall]], and brought the child Jesus with him, and the latter taught him how to extract the tin and purge it of its [[Wolframite|wolfram]]. This story possibly grew out of the fact that the Jews under the Angevin kings farmed the tin of Cornwall."<ref>S. Baring-Gould, ''A Book of The West: Being An Introduction To Devon and Cornwall'' (2 Volumes, [[Methuen Publishing]], 1899); ''A Book of Cornwall'', Second Edition 1902, New Edition, 1906, page 57.</ref> In its most developed version, Joseph, a tin merchant, visited Cornwall, accompanied by his nephew, the boy Jesus. Reverend C.C. Dobson (1879–1960) made a case for the authenticity of the Glastonbury ''legenda''.<ref>Dobson, ''Did Our Lord Visit Britain as they say in Cornwall and Somerset?'' (Glastonbury: Avalon Press) 1936.</ref> The case was argued more recently by the Church of Scotland minister [[Gordon Strachan (minister)|Gordon Strachan]] (1934–2010) <ref>{{Cite book
 |isbn      = 9780863152757
 |year      = 1998
 |publisher = Floris Books
 |last      = Strachan
 |first     = Gordon
 |title     = Jesus, the Master Builder: Druid Mysteries and the Dawn of Christianity
 |place     = Edinburgh
}}</ref> and by the former archaeologist Dennis Price.<ref>Dennis Price, ''The Missing Years of Jesus: The Greatest Story Never Told'' (Hay House Publishing, 2009). {{ISBN|9781848500334}}</ref>